‘Very intelligent’ & ‘fantastic’ star ready to take paycut to join Man Utd, but some Red Devils staff have one concern - report

Bayern Munich centre-back Matthijs de Ligt is willing to take a pay cut to secure a move to Manchester United this summer, according to German outlet fussball.news.

The Red Devils manager Erik ten Hag wants to reunite with the Netherlands international having enjoyed working together at Ajax, and the defender is very much open to the move.

Bayern are also open to selling De Ligt and both clubs could find an agreement despite being currently apart in their valuation of the Dutchman.

However, some at Man United are not keen on the deal due to his lack of pace. Despite his qualities and huge potential, the 24-year-old is not a very fast player, and there are concerns over having him and Harry Maguire at the heart of the Man United defence.

Opposition with fast attackers that deploy a counter-attacking style will have a field day playing against a team with two central defenders lacking pace.

De Ligt’s injury record of recent has also not been very impressive, and the Red Devils battled with enough fitness issues at the back last season than to add another injury-prone player to that department.

Former Man United manager Jose Mourinho dubbed the former Juventus star ‘very intelligent’ and ‘fantastic’ back in 2019, and while he has not gone on to fulfil his huge potential and promise, losing his spot in the national team as a result, there is still a world-class player somewhere in De Ligt.

He fits perfectly into the style of play Ten Hag deploys as the Dutchman wants his centre-backs to be comfortable on the ball and play out from the back.

However, ignoring his weaknesses highlighted above could be a huge risk and gamble, and the manager cannot afford to sign more players that would struggle to impress or be readily available.